Currently the Director of Magnet, Professional Practice and Faith Community Nursing for Carle Foundation Hospital and Carle Physician Group in Urbana Illinois, Faith has been a nurse for 42 years. Her unique ability to blend theory and reality make her presentations truly powerful and enjoyable. Faith's gift of storytelling captivates her audience to both the drama and humor found in professional practice

She is the co-author of the AACN Core Curriculum of Sub-Acute Care and has also published on the socialization of nurses into profession, burns and sexuality, generational differences, spirituality, parish nursing, prayer and presence. She has spoken numerous times at all three Mayo clinics and has given over 2,800 presentations on the state, national and international level.

Faith draws on her extensive experiences in Administration, Education and Clinical Practice when giving presentations. Her unique ability to blend theory and reality make her presentations truly powerful and enjoyable. Her gift of storytelling captivates her audience to both the drama and humor found in professional practice.

From Wedding Rings to Nose Rings: Generational Differences - Why is it so difficult to attract and retain people who care? Where is the "work ethic" in today's young healthcare providers? How will we orient/educate the very people who will be (gasp!) providing care to the rest of us as we age? What skills will assist leaders/educators when working with this increasingly diverse workforce?

One thing is for sure, if you don't plan on changing, don't plan on hiring! This presentation will highlight the heroes, stories, values and traditions of the four generational groups in the workforce today. Illustrations of education and management styles that work for each group will be given.

Building a Foundation Together: Critical Care and Rehabilitation Nursing - This presentation will define for the professional in critical care what neuro-rehab nursing is and what it isn't. Several actual case presentations illuminating the importance of excellence in critical care nursing in promoting a positive rehab outcome will be cited. The work of different institutions toward creating a collaboration between critical care and rehabilitation nursing units will be highlighted. Emphasis will be placed on recovery rates, prognosis and therapy outcomes in neuro rehab to increase the critical care professional's knowledge base. The challenges faced by neurotrauma patients and their families, the dignity that is afforded to them in ICU and the victories seen after rehabilitation will be discussed using actual patient studies. This presentation will, for many nurses, offer validation that, even in patient cases deemed hopeless, the ICU nurse plays a pivotal role in each patient's recovery.

Keeping a Professional Presence in Times of Change - Today's healthcare environments, whether rural or urban, have one common thread...CHANGE. That one word sends shivers down the spine of even the most experienced nurse. Whether the change comes in the form of new technology, clinical practice models or even hospital redesign, it is seen all too often as yet another intrusion to the delivery of quality patient care. With the unceasing expectations of the insurance industry for healthcare to "do more with less," change is inevitable.

This presentation outlines some of the basis for change and offers colleagues examples of how other professionals deal with the constant rapid changes in hospital infrastructures, technology and staff nursing expectations. Utilizing the framework of both a hospital merger and a reengineering project, vignettes are presented covering the full spectrum of nursing. Emphasis is placed on taking the two core values in nursing - care and competence - and carrying them throughout the nursing practice.

Brain Attack: The Aftermath - As the race for cutting-edge technology continues, the professional nurse is expected to be knowledgeable about MRI, CT and PET scans. Unfortunately, the latest technology gives only a glimpse into the area of cognition. In the past several years, more has been learned about cognitive functioning than ever before.

This presentation highlights the unique difference between the Right and Left CVA client; in particular the cognitive deficits that remain following a Brain Attack. As the average age of Brain Attack patients continues to descend, and with the inclusion of crack cocaine strokes as the largest new category of CVA, the healthcare picture that emerges is one of treating a survivor - a patient we will see again. When this is combined with a decreased mortality it is more important than ever that professional nurses care for Brain Attack patients with a solid foundation of knowledge regarding cognitive deficits.

The Crab Bucket: The Way We Do The Things We Do - For too long in nursing, neophytes have been admonished for their creativity with the statement: "That's not the way we do it here." This presentation will explore "The way we do the things we do" and most importantly, WHY we do the things we do. Using a northeastern folktale about a crab bucket as an analogy, the evolutionary process of a nurse from student to practitioner to leader will be studied.

Waiting Room Warriors: "Nurse, do you have a minute?" - The nursing professional is constantly bombarded by the needs and questions of relatives concerned over their ill family member. The ability of the nurse to both listen to and speak with these families is too often thwarted by unrealistic expectations and a seemingly hidden agenda. As a result, both nurses and families leave these interactions feeling uncertain and frustrated.

This presentation explores the needs of a patient's family as they face the constant challenges and struggles afforded to them by the hospital experience. The differences between the families of pediatric and adults patients will be explained as well as the health care professional's perceptions of these two groups. The concepts of Family, Crisis, and Coping will be investigated using the theory of loss as a framework.

Critical Thinking: Skills For The New Millennium - The more complex the critically ill patient, the more complex the judgments today's nurse is challenged to make. The average nurse was not educated in an environment that encouraged critical thinking. Yet, this same nurse is asked on a daily basis to demonstrate these very skills in clinical practice. This presentation will define what critical thinking is and offer several strategies to promote such skills. The importance of questioning will be emphasized as well as how to successfully utilize case studies as learning tools.

It's In Every One Of Us - How can we treat patients well when we can't even be nice to each other? Motivating staff to realize the IMPACT that they have on customer satisfaction is perplexing at best. Patients expect the care they receive to be excellent and, too often, they are disappointed. Across the country, guest relations programs continue to proliferate with little to no long-lasting effects noted by the facilities that purchased them.

This program integrates specific guest relations problems as identified by the facility with known maxims of customer satisfaction. Utilizing a reality based approach that recognizes the stress staff feels on a moment-to-moment basis, solutions to facility problems will be presented. A separate program for managers in the facility emphasizes not only the importance of customer service but also how to "back up" the message. Too often in health care the core value of competence is rewarded at the expense of an equally important value...caring. This talk will ask the participants to look at themselves as the patient ambassador and to realize..."it's in every one of us...to be wise."